The Odyssey

The works of Homer were more than entertainment for the ancient Greeks. They were nearly scripture. Oddysseus was the Archetypal Homeric ideal, the great example of what a man should be, and how he should live his life. Clever, smart, brave, strong, disciplined, loyal to his family and his country and willing to sacrifice all if required (and only if required) he embodied all the ideals a Greek was supposed to live up to. In fact, it was for repeatedly telling the youth of Athens that their parents were not living up to the Homeric Ideal that Socrates was condemed to death.